Can Felix Win 10th, Or Will Seattle Lose It's 9th In A Row? It's Mariners Game # 153

Felix Hernandez tries to become the Mariners only 10-game winner - and snap the team's eight-game losing streak.

The biggest problem won't be the Oakland lineup but his own. The Mariners have two players, Jose Lopez (.443) and Ichiro (.333) hitting more than .300 on this trip - and seven players hitting below .200.

If the Mariners give up more than three runs, they're in trouble.

You can't say the Mariners aren't trying different cominations. Rob Johnson is DHing tonight, and he's the 16th player to DH for the Mariners this season.

Raining and 65 degrees at first pitch, which shouldn't favor the offense tonight.

Hernandez seems loose - he's throwing 96 mph in the first inning and has already shattered one bat. An 11-pitch first inning for Felix.

Mariners have two hits throuh three innings, and neither left the infield. In the third, they got Ichiro as far as third base, but stranded him there.

Oakland put their first runner on base when Yuniesky Betancourt bobbled a ground ball for an error.

This doesn't have the feel of a high-scoring game.

No score after 3.

Outfielder Travis Buck got a hit that left the infield, then the outfield - his fourth home run, giving Oakland the lead. Kurt Suzuki's two-out RBI doubled it.

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Felix is mad, and he has reason. He's made a couple of mistakes, it looks like his ankle may be bothering him again and - oh, yes - the Mariners haven't scored.

This is about the time of game when former Mariner Randy Johnson would storm into the dugout and start screaming at his teammates to get him some runs. It didn't make him friends, but occasionally it got him a few runs.

Ichiro doubled with two outs in the seventh and now has 202 hits this season. He did not, however, score his 97th run.

Yuniesky grounded out.

Athletics 2, Mariners 0

Small consolation for Felix, but as he walked to the mound in the eighth inning, he'd already established a career high for innings in a season.

Back in 2006, he'd pitched 191 innings.

Through seven tonight, he's worked 193 2/3 innings in 2008.

The Mariners, meanwhile, are three outs from being shut out for the second game in a row.

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Felix Hernandez threw 38 pitches in three innings with five strikeouts and a walk in his first start since being hit in the arm by a line drive four weeks ago. He appears on schedule to compete for a 10th consecutive Opening Day start if it’s not James Paxton.